ch 6 (MT 1)

Question 1

Who is the founder of applied psychology? what did he discover?

Answer 1

Hugo Münsterberg

discovered false memories in experiments w Harvard students

Question 2

what is a leading question? give 3 examples

Answer 2

questions that imply a particular answer, with the potential to cause a respondent to answer in a particular way

“You took the money, didn’t you?”
“You said you were sick that day, right?”
“Would you say he lost control?”

Question 3

what is Elizabeth Loftus known for?

Answer 3

-studying relevant applications of memory research
-Misinformation effect (‘74)

Question 4

what is the misinformation effect and what are the theories behind it?

Answer 4

-misinformation effect: after witnessing an event, exposure to misleading info causes memory for the event to become less accurate

-impairment hypothesis: misinformation replaces/blocks access to true memory
-co-existence hypothesis: misinformation can be simultaneously stored with the true memory

Question 5

what is the misinformation paradigm?

Answer 5

-used to study the misinformation effect

1. staged event
   assign participants to two conditions:
   a) post-event information (eg co-witness narrative, suggestive question)
   b) control (no post-event information)
2. memory test them (eg recall, recognition)

Question 6

describe loftus + palmer’s 1974 experiment

Answer 6

-participants saw a red car pass a yield sign
-questions suggested it was a stop sign
-~60% misremembered it as a stop sign

Question 7

describe cognitive interviews + two principles that help retrieval during cognitive interviews

Answer 7

-protocol for interviewing cooperative witnesses
-aims to build rapport, avoid suggestion, improve retrieval

-multiple retrieval paths principle: diff retrieval cues may lead to diff details being reported
-feature overlap principle: memory retrieval is enhanced when the encoding + retrieval contexts are similar (ie, encoding specificity principle)

Question 8

what are 4 retrieval techniques in cognitive interviews?

Answer 8

-context reinstatement: mentally reconstruct the event
-report everything: no matter how trivial
-change order: recall in a diff sequence
-change perspective: describe event from diff perspective

Question 9

Memon, Meissner, and Fraser (2010) used meta-analysis to see how the cognitive
interview compares with other methods of obtaining information from eyewitnesses. What
are two findings from the meta-analysis?

Answer 9

-Compared with control conditions, the cognitive interview increased recall of correct details.
-It also led to a small increase in recall of incorrect details

Question 10

describe Jennifer Thompson’s case

Answer 10

-was sexually assaulted, carefully studied the man’s face for 30 mins
-put Ronald Cotton into a lineup, she testified w certainty that he attacked her
-administrator knew he was the suspect, gave feedback to witness
-2yrs into sentence, another inmate Poole said he knew he was innocent because Poole did it – after 8 more years, DNA evidence exonerated him

Question 11

compare/contrast simultaneous + sequential lineups

Answer 11

-simultaneous: members shown at the same time
-hypothesized to result in relative judgement (choose member that best matches memory relative to others)
- encourage a liberal decision criterion

-sequential: presented one at a time
- hypothesized to result in absolute judgement (choose lineup member whose match to memory exceeds a decision criterion)
-conservative decision criterion
-decrease filler identifications, compared with simultaneous lineups

Question 12

what are the Turnbull Rules? where are they used?

Answer 12

-method of assessing reliability + eyewitness ID
-ADVOKATE:
-amount of time observed
-distance
-visibility (light, raining?)
-observation impeded
-known, seen before, how often
-any special reason to recall
-time between event + ID
-error in description, relative to appearance of defendant (discrepancies btwn descriptions in first + subsequent accounts of witness?)

-adopted by English courts, then Cadn in the 80s

Question 13

what is the US method of assessing reliability + eyewitness ID? what are its 2 steps?

Answer 13

-the Manson Test
1. was the ID procedure unnecessarily suggestive?
2. Is the ID reliable?

Question 14

what are the 5 Manson criteria?

Answer 14

1. did the witness have a good view of the culprit?
2. was the eyewitness paying attention? any distractions?
3. did the witness provide a good description?
4. how much time passed at time of ID?
5. was the ID made with certainty?

Question 15

what is the process of eyewitness identification? compare successful + unsuccessful investigations

Answer 15

-event occurs
-police investigates
-successful: culprit present lineup
-unsuccessful: culprit absent

Question 16

what has Wells et al (2020) found out mistaken identification?

Answer 16

-field studies (n=6374): 24% of witnesses picked a filler
-innocence project (n=375): mistaken ID contributed to 69% of all US DNA exonerations
-national registry of exonerations (n=2870): mistaken ID contributed to 28% of all known US exonerations
-Cadn wrongful convictions (n=70): mistaken ID contributed to 44% of known cases

Question 17

what is the Innocence Project (1992)?

Answer 17

-org based in NY
-exonerates wrongly convicted through DNA testing
-as of Jan 2023, 375 cases of wrongful conviction overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence
-Innocence project was directly involved in over half of the cases

Question 18

what are the 4 most common contributing factors in wrongful conviction (US DNA exonerations)?

Answer 18

-mistaken ID (70%)
-flawed forensic science (50%)
-false confession (30%)
-informants (20%)

Question 19

what are contributing factors in wrongful conviction (all US exonerations, incl non DNA)?

Answer 19

-mistaken ID = ~30%
-perjury / false ID = ~60%
-false/misleading forensic evidence = 12%
-official misconduct (by either police or prosecutors) = ~54%

Question 20

what are the most common crimes committed in DNA exoneration cases?

Answer 20

-sex assault = 64%
-sex assault + homicide = 27%
-homicide = 7%
-other violent = 2%

Question 21

who is Gary Wells and what is he known for?

Answer 21

-began studying problem of mistaken eyewitness identification in 70s
-lead author on 2 “Lineup white Papers” (‘98, 2020)
-known for introducing variety of concepts:
-relative judgment process
-lineup experiment analogy
-double blind lineup

Question 22

what are 3 ways eyewitness identification can be studied?

Answer 22

1. archival case reviews
2. lab experiments
3. field experiments

Question 23

what did Wells et al (2015) find in a US field experiment?

Answer 23

-suspect identifications: simultaneous = sequential
-filler identifications: simultaneous > sequential
-nonidentifications: simultaneous < sequential

(multisite - Tucson AZ, SD CA, ATX, Charlotte-Mecklenburg NC; final dataset n=491)

Question 24

describe 3 criticisms of studying eyewitnesses in the lab (3pts) + support each w an example (3pts)

Answer 24

-lack of ecological validity – ie realism; similarity to real world
-less relevant for relative risk than absolute risk; experimental conds are often better than real world conds

-poor sampling – participants chosen to take part in these studies
-participant characteristics: uin students are less susceptible to suggestive procedures

-lack of consequences
-no risk of sending an innocent to prison, put on trial, prison; participants had low motivation to tell successful lies

Question 25

provide a rebuttal to each of the criticisms [for criticisms of studying eyewitnesses in the lab] (3pts)

Answer 25

-ecological: less relevant for relative risk than absolute risk; experimental conds are often better than real world conds
-participant characteristics: uni students are less susceptible to suggestive procedures
-lack of consequences: archival data from real cases show freq of mistaken identification

Question 26

2. Psychologists often study eyewitnesses using lab experiments.
   a. According to Wells and Quinlivan (2009) what is the aim of eyewitness experiments? (1 point)

Answer 26

used to establish cause and effect (relative risk), not absolute risk

Question 27

what is the weapon focus effect?

Answer 27

if perp is seen holding weapon, ability to recognize them is impaired because witnesses tend to [ ] on weapon

Question 28

describe 2 advantages of studying eyewitnesses in the lab. (2pts)

Answer 28

-total ground truth: information known to be real; objective scoring of identification accuracy
-control: can experimentally manipulate important factors (eg witness characteristics, viewing conditions)

Question 29

describe the 3 stages of eyewitness identification + errors that can be made at each stage

Answer 29

1. encoding: gathering + storing info
   -info might not be properly encoded (eg lapse in focus)
   -no system ctrl
2. storage: encoded info
   -deteriorates over time, may be susceptible to revision
   -some system ctrl
3. retrieval: accessing stored info
   -distortion can occur + may not have necessary cues
   -more system ctrl, this is where psychologists play a role

Question 30

compare estimator and system variables

Answer 30

-estimator variables: factors which are outside of the ctrl of the legal system (eg who witnesses a crime, how carefully they observe it, whether the race of the criminal is diff than the victim, etc)

-system variables: factors that are under the ctrl of a justice system, eg how a witness is questioned + how lineups are constructed, modifications in type + order of Qs asked by police

Question 31

3. Psychologists have published two Lineup White Papers with recommendations for how to reform eyewitness identification procedures (Wells et al., 1998, 2020). Some of these procedures have been found to result in a trade-off.
   a. Describe eight reform procedures in the 2020 Lineup White Paper. (8 points)

Answer 31

-prelineup interview
-evidence based suspicion: have evidence that person is guilty before putting them into the lineup – reasonable suspicion + guilty suspect base rate
-double blind admin
-fillers matched to witness description + suspect appearance
-prelineup instructions (eg may not be present)
-confidence statement
-video record procedure
-avoid repeated ID procedures – can only test witness once (w same suspect) or else there may be remembering from last procedure
-showup guidance – no fillers

Question 32

describe lineup rules (how many people go in, which people, who administers, what you tell the witness, what you record)

Answer 32

-how many: 10 people (in Ca)
-which people: plausible fillers
-who administers: someone blind to suspect’s identity
-tell witness: suspect might be absent
-record: lineup selection + confidence

Question 33

what is the traditional model of investigation?

Answer 33

1. witness observes a crime
2. case detective conducts investigation –> leads to a suspect
3. case detective constructs lineup –> administers line up –> ID or no ID

Question 34

under what conditions is confidence a sign of accuracy?

Answer 34

-“pristine” conditions:
-lineup constructed properly
-administered properly
-memory of eyewitness hasn’t been contaminated

Question 35

what is unconscious transference?

Answer 35

witness wrongly IDs someone seen near the scene of the crime, or someone seen as part of the identification process
-face familiar in one context is transferred to scene of the crime
-confuses the source of familiarity (source monitoring error)

Question 36

what affects confidence? can confidence at trial be trusted?

Answer 36

-real world conditions unlikely to be pristine: lineup construction is hard, lineup administration can go wrong, contamination may have occurred outside of investigation (eg witness searching on social media)
-confidence at trial can’t be trusted – tends to increase

Question 37

what is post-identification feedback effect?

Answer 37

-eyewitness confidence is inflated by positive reinforcement

Question 38

what are the tradeoffs of lineup reforms?

Answer 38

-eg: similarity btwn fillers and suspect
-highly similar = protect innocent suspects
-however, will also protect guilty suspects

-costs might just be eliminating lucky guesses (if biased procedure is needed to make ID, is it a legit ID?)

-all errors aren’t equal: if no correct ID occurs, criminal escapes; if false ID occurs, innocent suffers AND criminal escapes

Question 39

why do police lineups despite risks?

Answer 39

-physical evidence is often unavailable, identification is direct evidence of guilt

Question 40

In the U.S. DNA exonerations, approximately what percentage involved a mistaken eyewitness identification? b) In all U.S. exonerations (i.e., DNA and non-DNA), approximately what percentage involved a mistaken eyewitness identification? c) What is the explanation for the discrepancy between the two percentages? /3

Answer 40

a) Mistaken identification was a contributing factor in approximately 70% of the DNA exonerations
b) Mistaken identification was a contributing factor in approximately 30% of all U.S. exonerations
c) The reason for the discrepancy is that that sex crimes comprise over 90% of the DNA cases, and eyewitness identification is a common type of evidence in sex crime cases